The bar was nearly empty. There were a couple of locals shooting a game of eight-ball and a bartender counting the minutes until her shift was over. And there was Joe, sitting at the bar, regularly glancing between his phone and the door.

Welcome to Grubman’s Accessories. Is there something I can help you with? We just got those tiny, adorable purses in today. We have them in all colors: ecru, taupe, bloody. Are you new? You look new to me. You have a fresh, new face. I see a lot of same-faces in here, and they get less fresh every time I see them.

The sun was high in the sky and his badge glimmered against his matte blue jacket.

Katie looked at him, into his sallow face beady brown eyes. The skin around them was puffy and pink, pulling away from the sockets.

There are many benefits to living in your small town.

1) Its streets are short and irrefutably well-paved.

2) When it snows, the plows come quickly.

3) The plows do not come so quickly that your son is not able, first, to build himself furniture made out of the snow, upon which he is able to kick up his feet and chat and giggle for at least fifteen solid minutes with whichever imaginary friends he chooses.